NYC Here We Come pt8 6th Holiday Marathon-Sammy, Ilna & Mari
by Mari217
Summary: A trip into the city is fun for all!


_Welcome to part 8 of the 6th Annual REAL McRoll Holiday Marathon. There will be a new story every day between now and January 3rd. (Though we retain the right to keep going until January 5th if we're having too much fun.)_

_Hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

**NYC Here We Come (1/2)**

"Can Daddy and I talk to you for a minute, peanut?" Mary asked as Joan finished up breakfast and prepared to head downstairs to get ready for a big day out in New York City.

Joan, always a slow eater was the last to finish up so only Mary and Aaron remained with her in the dining room.

"Sure."

"Ok, Daddy and I have a little surprise for you." Mary had been dying to tell Joan about the special treat they had planned for months but she'd bit her tongue knowing that the second her vivacious daughter found out about it her excitement would go into overdrive and she wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else.

"What kind of surprise?" Joan asked.

"We're not going shopping with the others when we go into New York City today," Mary said.

Joan looked stricken. "We're not?"

"We're not." Mary pulled four tickets from her pocket. "Because you, me, daddy and Aunt Deb are going to see Frozen on Broadway."

Joan's mouth dropped open. "Like Kendra did?"

One of Joan's classmates had seen the show several months earlier on a trip to New York and had spent many recesses telling her enthralled classmates all about the experience.

Mary grinned. "Yep."

The excited squeal that Joan emitted at the news filled the house. "Are we really?" she said breathlessly. "You're not teasing, right?"

"We would never do that about something this important," Aaron assured her.

Joan squealed again. "WE'RE GOING TO SEE FROZEN!"

As she headed downstairs to tell the others Aunt Deb smiled. "I think she's excited."

* * *

"I'm ready!" Joan announced as she entered the living room wearing a blue _Frozen_ sweater dress Mary had ostensibly bought for the New Jersey trip.

"You look perfect, Joanie," Steve said with a smile. His niece was literally vibrating with excitement.

"Elsa and Anna will be wanting a dress just like yours," Grace said. "And you even have your matching Frozen hat and winter jacket."

"I'd say you're ready for your first Broadway show," Elizabeth said before turning to Grace, Casey, Kaitlyn and Jess. "And are you ladies ready for 5th Avenue?"

They nodded in unison and Danny handed Grace a few folded bills. "Don't buy anything too big to get on the plane while I'm making sure your Uncle Steve doesn't try to drive off with the Intrepid," he teased. "Jenna, you're the voice of reason there, because if yours buy giant things, too, we'll have to charter a plane home."

"Hey," Gabby poked his side.

"Hey, what? You two," he gestured between his daughter and girlfriend, "are co-conspirators."

"He's onto us." Grace shrugged with a giggle. "There goes our plan for a giant modern sculpture for the living room. And it's _sail_, Danno, if Uncle Steve was gonna move the Intrepid, he'd sail it, not drive it." She slipped an arm through her dad's and kissed his cheek while Steve said, "Thank you, Gracie. Besides, if anyone was going to pilot a battleship, it would definitely be Joseph."

"You can sail a battleship?" DJ's eyes grew as he asked.

"He captained two in his career," Catherine said proudly. "And a carrier."

"Wow, that's awesome."

"Uncle Joseph, you can tell us stuff that's not on the tour, right?" Dylan asked excitedly.

"I'll do my best," he placed a hand on the teen's shoulder.

"Aunt Cath and Cousin Angie are ready! Can we go now, Mama?" Joan said, taking Mary's hand as she danced a little jig of joy.

"We're definitely ready. Potty mission complete," Catherine said as Angie announced, "We weady!" from her mother's arms.

"Okay, then," Steve motioned everyone together. "Gather around."

"You're doing a huddle?" His best friend chuckled. "Of course you are."

Catherine laughed when Angie said, "Gater wound!"

"So, first we do some sightseeing as a group, and then while Mary, Aaron, Joanie, and Aunt Deb are seeing the matinee of _Frozen_, Elizabeth, Jenna, Gabby and the girls are hitting the stores with Catherine while the rest of us are touring the Intrepid museum and the Growler with Angie. Then we all meet up after the show gets out for a late lunch and ice cream at Sugar Sugar."

"And then we'll go see the big tree at Rockefeller Center," Catherine added.

"Yay!" Joan cheered. "We saw it get lit on TV, it's soooo big!"

"And we'll have a small snack ready for when our troops get back." Nonna linked arms with Ang and they shared a smile.

"Which means enough to feed the seventh fleet," Joseph said as he kissed his mother in law's cheek, then Nonna's. "Hold the fort, ladies, we'll be back with lots of adventure stories."

* * *

"Welcome to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, I'm Jim Cummings," the man in the _Intrepid_ hat greeted the group. "I'll be your guide."

"Steve McGarrett," he introduced himself and the others.

"Do we have any veterans in our group today?"

"Uncle Steve's in the reserves; he was a SEAL, and Uncle Joseph was a Navy Captain," Jacob said proudly.

Jim smiled at the enthusiastic young man. "Wonderful, I love showing other salty dogs around." He used the term for those who'd spent years at sea before retiring and offered a hand to Joseph. "Good to meet you. I captained one of her last deployments in 'nam."

"Welcome home." Joseph shook as Jim Cummings turned to Steve who repeated the phrase.

"Thanks. My grandson's on the teams." He shook his head. "I don't know how that happened, seems like just a week ago he was the age of this young man," he indicated DJ with a grin. "So, we're going to start at the top, as they say. Everyone follow me to the flight deck and we'll tour our way down."

* * *

On the flight deck, the kids enjoyed seeing all manner of aircraft from vintage bombers to stealth fighters. When Angie spotted the helicopter, she pointed and said, "Daddy, look! Angie do!"

Steve beamed and Danny barked a laugh. "You are doomed, my friend, it's so clearly genetic."

Steve kissed her cheek. "What do you wanna do, baby girl?"

"Angie, fwy!" She pointed again. "Zoom!"

"We can take a closer look," Jim Cummings said with a grin. "You can sit in the helo with your daddy, honey."

"EEEEEEEE yay!" She tossed up both hands.

"Guess that's a yes," Steve said as he passed Angie to Joseph, climbed aboard and took his daughter into his lap. "There you go."

Cody and Danny snapped photos and Joseph filmed as the two year old spun the dials and grabbed the joystick.

Jim Cummings nodded and said to Joseph, "Now there's a future Admiral if I ever saw one."

Steve passed her down to Cody and had DJ join him before climbing out so the other kids could take a turn. A young petty officer touring the ship with his parents grinned as his mom said, "You're in for a ride with her," to Steve. "Who's this adorable little spitfire?"

Before he could answer, DJ beamed proudly and took her hand as Cody set the toddler on her feet. Steve swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in his throat at the little boy's words.

"That's my sister!"

Behind them, big brothers Cody and Jadon shared a smile as the former placed a hand each on Dylan and Jacobs' shoulders.

* * *

"There it is! There it is! I see the snowflake! It's _Frozen_!" Joan cried, pointing to a large billboard outside the St. James Theatre. She tugged on Mary and Aaron's hands.

"Slow down, peanut, we've got plenty of time," Mary said. "The show doesn't start until 1pm."

"But we don't wanna miss it!"

Aaron grinned at her impatience. "We won't miss it."

"Are you going to see _Frozen_, too?" a girl about the same age as Joan asked. "I mean, not _Frozen 2_, but Frozen … you know … too?"

"Also?" her mother supplied.

"Yeah, also."

Joan nodded emphatically. "I have my Frozen dress on under my coat," she said, reaching for her skirt.

"Me, too," the girl said. "Mine's blue."

Joan gasped. "Mine, too!" She grinned at her parents and Aunt Deb before turning back to her new friend. "Who's your favorite? Mine's Elsa. And Anna. And Olaf."

"I like them all. Except Hans. He's bad."

"Yeah, he's bad."

"First Broadway show," the girl's mother said.

"Us, too," Mary told her. "We're from California."

"Florida."

Deb grinned. "How 'bout this snow, huh?"

"Nice to have a white Christmas for once." She held out her hand. "I'm Caroline, and this is my daughter Sophia."

Joan's eyes sparkled. "I have a friend Sophia in my class!"

"I'm Mary, this is my husband Aaron, our daughter Joan, and …"

"Just call me Aunt Deb," Deb said with a warm smile, shaking the woman's hand. "I've gotten quite fond of hearing it."

"We're on the mezzanine level," Caroline said. "Row A."

It was Mary's turn to gasp. "Us, too." They compared tickets and realized they'd be sitting right next to each other.

"Must be fate," Deb said.

"Hey, peanut, guess what? You and Sophia can sit next to each other during the show."

Joan and Sophia looked at each other with wide eyes and matching grins. They grabbed each others' hands and squealed. "Yay!"

Aaron took an exaggerated look at his watch. "Well, we better get in there before Olaf melts."

Joan gaped at him. "Daddy!"

"If he melts, Elsa can make him again," Sophia said reassuringly. "Like in the movie."

Joan signed in relief. "Oh, yeah, she can." She grinned. "But let's hurry anyway, 'kay?"

"Okay!"

* * *

As they inspected the captain's quarters, Jacob raised a question, "Uncle Joseph, you said welcome home to Captain Cummings, he doesn't live on the ship anymore does he?"

Joseph smiled. "No, Jacob, but he served in Vietnam, and when that war was happening and even when it was over, the men and women who served weren't treated with the respect they deserved. So whenever we meet a Vietnam veteran, we say 'Welcome home,' to show we appreciate them, to show the respect they should have gotten."

Jacob nodded solemnly. "Thanks for telling me, I'll remember, promise."

Joseph placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed as they caught up with the others. "I know you will."

* * *

Sophia and Joan chattered away happily right up until the moment the lights went down and the orchestra started to play at which point they both turned and stared at the stage, completely transfixed.

"This was a really great idea," Mary whispered as she kissed Aaron's cheek. "Thanks for thinking of it."

"You're welcome." Aaron checked out Joan's expression of pure awe and wonder. "I'd do anything to put that look on her face."

Joan and Sophia clutched hands as the music swelled and Mary couldn't help but get teary at the sight of her daughter's face as one of her dreams came true. She smiled broadly.

"Yours too," Aaron whispered happily as they settled in to watch the show.

* * *

As the group toured the submarine Growler towards the end of the tour, Dylan said, "This is raw, I mean, guys lived on here for months?" He inspected the sonar equipment as Steve and Joseph hunched slightly. The vintage vessel had less headroom than modern subs and even Cody and Jadon were inches from brushing the hatchways with their heads.

"They absolutely did."

"Did you ever live on a submarine?" Jacob asked their guide.

"No, son, I was never a bubble head as we call the submariners," Jim said. "I'm a little too fond of open air, so I was lucky enough to have sea duty on ships."

"Our mommy lived on ships," DJ offered quietly and Jim smiled.

"Did she now?"

"My wife is also reserves, after 17 years in Intel." Steve could never control the smile that accompanied the mention of Catherine.

"You tell your mom I said thanks."

DJ beamed at 'your mom' in reference to Catherine and squeezed Steve's hand. "Okay!"

**Stay tuned for part 2 of the adventure tomorrow**

* * *

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